Three days.
That was the time left before Avalon would witness a public execution.
The town square buzzed with murmurs and hushed whispers as a Lieutenant from Narita stood on a raised platform, his armor gleaming under the midday sun. With a voice that cut through the crowd like a sharpened blade, he made the announcement:
"Isn't he from Narita, why do he execute someone in our kingdom" "right, do our king Avalon couldn't do something about it" " no, our country always need to give tax to Narita, I mean Narita is the big kingdom" " yep, I mean, we can't do nothing about it" " as much as I hate,...we can't keep our head high to Narita kingdom, we still can't lost diplomat relation with them"
The voice of crowd shut down with one shout from Lieutenant Ford.
"By the decree of Narita's royal court, Lance volia, the thief who stole the artifacts from royal carriage , shall face execution in three days' time!"
Leonard stood at the far edge of the square, His fingers curled under his robe as the name Lance sent a sharp pang through his mind.
Lance Volia : A name he hadn't heard in years.
Once, they were boys running through the corridors of the royal palace—Leonard, the prince who shied away from the throne, and Lance, the reckless street urchin who climbed the walls of the castle like he belonged there. The two had shared stolen food, dreams of freedom, and whispered schemes to escape the world's expectations.
"When I become a fully fledged Prince with authority, I will make you my knight, Lance"
"Ha Ha, what are you saying, Leon... You can't even get out of castle,"
And now… Lance was a condemned man.
"Why am I recalling such old memories?, this isn't like me, I need to put aside emotional burden "
Leonard exhaled slowly, his gaze flicking toward the castle guards stationed around the square. "If Lance truly was the thief who placed the dagger in his hands… then it meant he know who has the artifact. And if that were true, he is being tortured right now for the location of artifact, this mean, knight of Avalon will search every house in mean time,"
He turned away before anyone could notice him, his mind already crafting a strategy.
"I want to save him, my only friend..."
He had three days.
"I have no such thing as brute strength, swordsmanship and I suck at physical work,"
" To raid the castle of Avalon is not an option"
"The only option I left is..."
"And also, time limit is crucial"
Each year has 350 days in total.
Leon is calculating day, and month in his mind.
Days of the Week
Solisday (Day of the Sun) ☀
Lunisday (Day of the Moon) 🌙
Terraday (Day of the Earth) 🌿
Ignisday (Day of Fire) 🔥
Aquaday (Day of Water) 🌊
Ventisday (Day of Wind) 💨
Umbrosday (Day of Shadow) 🌑
Lumenisday (Day of Light) ✨
Magnusday (Day of the Grand) 🏛
Aeternisday (Day of Eternity) ⏳
Months of the Year
Aurelis – The Golden Dawn (Spring begins)
Floralis – The Month of Blooming (Mid-Spring)
Ignisus – The Scorching Sun (Summer)
Umbralis – The Longest Shadows (Late Summer, transition to Autumn)
Tempestis – The Stormy Winds (Autumn)
Hibernis – The Cold Slumber (Winter)
Eclipsus – The Silent Moon (End of the year, deepest winter)
Lance's execution is scheduled in three days, today is Lunisday, Floralis 3rd. That means the execution will take place on Ventisday, Floralis 6th.
"I need to make preparation "
Ventisday of Floralis
The sun is about to set,
Lance Volia is transported by a prisoner carriage, where Knight of Narita and Avalon carried him to the execution spot southwest of the City, where a flat plaza is located.
Lance's head was ringed by a roped and his feet are standing on a wooden trap door,
And people around the plaza are murmuring and whispering, some people exchanging information that they knew.
From the crowd, a peculiar cart appear, which is not roped by a cow, horse or any other animal, a miracle, a cart is moving on it's own. On that cart, a man stood with slim figure, wearing exortic clothing, a marvel of his mechanical genius, shimmered with understated royalty. It was an outfit that screamed power without uttering a single word, woven from materials so fine that only the highest ranks of Avalon's nobility could dare to wear such a garment.
The man on the cart said " I, the one who can bring justice on to this world, one who can bring out magic worth 3rd tier spell, this man is not guilty and Narita Kingdom make a move on Avalon just to want to colonize, I , the man of Justice, can't bear to watch it anymore"
"Wait, the cart is moving by his magic"
"He can use 3rd tier spell, we should run now"
"Don't caught in it"
"What is the meaning of this"
"Really?, it is all a scheme to colonize Avalon"
People are murmuring and the crowd is in a mess.
"Who do you think you are, soilder, attack him before he use any magic" Ford command
Soilder, first hesitated , then run toward the cart.
Knight and soilder are approaching to the cart , the crowd is moving beside to make way,
The mysterious man shout "Sleep Magic 2nd tier, wide area drowsy , :
Then, it happen , most people began to falter, their thoughts drifting into fog, their bodies sinking into a drowsy stupor.
Lance Volia, bound and awaiting his grim fate, was still awake—his eyes wide with fear, his mind frantic. But as the breeze touched him, his breathing slowed, and his mind became clouded, slipping into a deep trance.
Leonard rise to execution stage from his cart, clearing rope from Lance and push him off the stage,
Lance fall down on hay which was prepared on cart. Mysterious man jump on the cart, a sudden jolt from a stray shock had stung his knee, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on.
He them ride the cart, the cart started throwing a lot of smoke from the tower like cube at the back, and Leonard flee.
"Thank goodness—no, not by the grace of any god—the plan is working. A calculated victory!" Mysterious man murmur himself.
[3 days ago]
Leonard started by crafting the moisturizer he have in mind, this time the heightened intuition of his mind make it more easy for him to finish it, he also craft a potion, only making people drowsy when they breath it, chlorine base fluid, which will be transformed into gas by moisturizer.
He also need to cover himself with gas mask,
"Gas mask, can I really make one, if I can make something which only has one air flow cube, then ventilated gap will be fill with charcoal, from bamboo, and also, I can't make it obvious,"
"The next condition is my identity, people of Avalon know that I can't use magic, so, it mean, I need to make it more like a magician is involved."
"So, the cloth, this black clothing, and this mask, I need to sew this too, and also, I have to open the shop everyday,so no suspicions befall on me."
"I just need to boost myself with elixir, then, the next condition, how to make everyone around the execution square get inhaled the gas"
"I will use landform, As the sun dipped lower on the horizon, the air began to shift. The city of Avalon, nestled along the Noir River, had long experienced a peculiar change in atmosphere as day turned to night, especially around the river's southwest edge. The river itself, winding lazily through the outskirts, had a cooling effect on the land.
Throughout the day, the sun beat relentlessly on the riverbank, soaking the earth in warmth. The land side of Avalon, exposed to the sun, had baked under its rays, causing the air to grow heavy and stagnant. But as the sun began to set, the temperature of the land did not immediately follow suit. The Noir River, cool and steady from the mountain springs far above, was a constant temperature, unaffected by the midday heat. As the sun began to fall behind the horizon, the contrast between the cooler air above the river and the heated land on the opposite bank caused a natural phenomenon. Called cooling breeze on land"
Leonard make his plan with all the resources he can get.
After so much speculation, he started the plan by installing his moisturizer on Avalon's wall at the southwest of the city, in the midnight when no one is noticed.
Moisturizer are not only going to release chlorine base gas, it also has a timing clockwork attach to it.
After saving Lance, Leonard goes to his home straight, but before that, he turn his cart into a warehouse, then attached the cart to a horse, he then changed his clothes and hide Lance under the hay, then he goes straight for his home outskirt the town in a unrushed manner.
At the Gate : two guard stop his cart and ask, "where are you going" , Leonard said "Dave, it is me, Leonard, I came back from my shop"
Dave said "Oh, Leon..., go ahead, we only got a message to check every carriage around the Avalon, I don't think I need to check your carriage" . Leon smiled gently and nod,
Leon reach his home, then he opened a trap door to keep the mechanical things from his carriage and he put Lance Volia in his basement. All those things exhaust Leon, he need to strengthen himself with strength elixir and stamina elixir, and then he notice, Lance is about to die :
All the torture they did on Lance is showing result, they only make him a public appearance just to show them Knight of Narita kingdom didn't torture someone to death.
"No, my friend, I will save you,"
Leon make an another all nighter to save Lance,
Now, he has this unknown ability which heightened his intuition, he can now see where Lance need to be treated to escape from death.
When the dawn came, he : Leon sleeping on the floor of basement, due to exhaustion,need to make an appearance at the shop, he write a note for his friend and go inside the City with his potion and material he need for the next stage of plan.
Lance still sleeping at the basement soundly.